Iris panted, bolting past trees and bushes to get to the end of the cursed woods. Darius trailed behind her, trying his best to keep up and not to complain about the aching in his knees. Yes, he had better speed and agility than her, but obviously she could hold out her stamina longer than he could. This made it hard for him to keep up, despite the urgency of the situation.

Finally they made it through the clearing, and Alzdrak was suddenly right in front of them.

And not a moment too soon it seemed.

"Iris!" Someone called, as three majestic black stallions raced through the gates and towards them. They stopped right beside the orange haired female, meaning she could clearly see the riders. Her eyes widened.

"Hugo? Ross? Drew?!" Her voice cracked slightly "I thought you guys were still being detained."

"Technically we still are..." Ross admitted "But that's not important right now! You gotta come with us!"

"But Crimson said--"

"We know, we were there." Drew interrupted, seeming to be way more serious than his usual explosive attitude "This is the reason he wanted you back. The four of us were assigned the task of saving Irance from a spirit of darkness... That is what it's called right?"

"Yup." Hugo chimed from behind him.

Iris frowned slightly. She knew what this meant; they wanted her to capture the darkness. "But... Why would she send you guys?"

"We'll explain on the way!" Drew held his gloved hand out to her, giving her a rare look of desperacy "But right now we need to get there as soon as possible! Who knows how much the creature is capable of!"

"Iris just go," Darius urged from behind her "I'll tell the lieutenant the beasts picked you up so he doesn't worry about you missing your mission, but they're right. You need to get moving."

He's right...

Iris sighed and grabbed Drew's hand, which helped her up onto the back of his horse behind him. He nodded toward his brothers before addressing Darius with a sort of scowl.

"Just so you know... The lieutenant and Generals are real mad at both of you, so I'd expect a hard slap on the wrist after you've explained your excuses."

And with that he snapped the reigns, forcing Iris to wrap her arms around his muscular body to prevent herself from falling off. Hugo and Ross followed, leaving Darius alone outside the gates. Drew's words repeated in his mind, making him gulp nervously.

Well fuck.

---

"Where were you?!"

Darius winced as the Alzdrakian General dealt another blow to his gut. He was grateful he was wearing his armour, or else this whole thing would be hella more painful. He coughed and stared up at the woman's furious black eyes.

"I-I told you, Iris and I went for a walk to clear our heads!" He explained, not daring to get up from his knees. Emiliana scoffed and slapped him hard in the face.

"Stop lying! Lieutenant Crimson searched everywhere for you, you were nowhere in sight! Unless... Don't tell me you took Iris outside the kingdom. Might I remind you she still is grounded."

Darius's eyes widened "I... I--"

He fell sideways as his superior punched him in the face, coughing up blood on the floor as he just lay there in shock. Emiliana sighed, rubbing her temple as she turned away from the male.

"I shouldn't be taking all my anger out on you, but I can't say you don't deserve any of this... You are aware we have a possible threat roaming Eriska, and we need all hands on deck. You need to think about these things before you do anything involving leaving the kingdom, or at least check with me or Crimson..." She turned to Darius, who was propped up on his arms with a small amount of blood trickling down his chin "You said Iris left with the beasts shortly after you got to the gates, right?"

He weakly nodded, his white hair hiding his eyes.

"Good. The sooner we have a shadow mage at the scene, the better."

"Wait," His head shot up "W-What did you say?"

"Irance is being attacked by a spirit of darkness, who has inherited the body of a young civilian girl so it can walk around in daylight. Only the magic of a shadow mage or a celestial being can capture it without harming the girl."

"M-Magic?! Iris can't use her powers!"

"We've been over this with General Lukali, she has to stop being stupid and swallow up her pride to save the kingdom--"

"You think she refuses because she's being prideful?!"

"Do not talk back to me that way, cadet!" The woman snarled "Of course it's because she's being prideful, what other reason could there be?"

"She doesn't want to end up like her father!"

.

.

.

Oh.

Oh shit.

Emiliana crouched down in front of Darius "What do you know about Iris's father, Darius?"

"I know he was corrupted by power and took many innocent lives without mercy."

"That isn't all he did... He's done so much worse than just that..."

"How much worse?"

Emiliana placed her hands on his shoulders and let out a breath "Whatever you do, do not freak out. Can you do that?"

Startled by the firmness in her grasp, Darius hesitantly nodded. Emiliana's gaze hardened as she cleared her throat

"Have you ever came across the name 'The Shadow Demon'?"

---

Hunter walked silently, feeling the breeze gently push her turquoise strand of hair away from her eye. There was no real reason she kept it there, other than a sort of reminder that in her time among the mountain rogues, the first person to actually look her in the eyes was the same man she had grown to adore. She made a vow to him when they began seeing each other; He would be the only one to see both of her eyes. It sounds dumb, but it's one of her ways to keep his spirit alive...

Speaking of spirits, that's where she was heading. The place where he was put to rest. The Church of Alzdrak's graveyard.

She entered through the tattered iron gates, feeling her mood drop further as soon as she set foot in the area. Graves, old and new, broken and untouched were everywhere she looked. And nearby stood what seemed to be a brand new stone, surrounded by flowers and gifts, as well as what seemed to be a small homemade teddy. It was pretty obvious that one belonged to a young child...

Hunter pressed on, mentally paying her respects to every grave she passed while keeping an eye out for one in particular. She knew exactly where it was; she had been here so many times before, but each time she did more graves seemed to appear. Soldiers. Mothers. Fathers. Brothers. Sisters. Sons and daughters.

Lovers...

Everybody dies one way or another. It's part of life. How can you have the motivation to live if it never ends? Leaf taught her that one...

Her feet stopped, eyes fixed on a slightly dusty grave surrounded by overgrown grass and daisies. It was located under a large tree, where leaves fell from their branches onto the ground below. Just like he did... The grave, as you might have guessed, belonged to him.

Leaf Synthis.

Even if he had been gone for almost two years now, her throat still tightened at the sight of this spot. She knelt down and placed her real hand on the cold stone, running her thumb across his name engraved in it. She was actually surprised it was holding up so well... especially considering the state some of the other gravestones were in.

"Hey, Leaf..." She murmured, glancing down at the dirt where he lay six feet under "I hope you're doing okay, wherever you are. Hopefully you aren't hitting it off with other dead girls behind my back." She chuckled lightly, before going silent.

"Things are a mess here... The Generals have been called together for a plan of defense but, we aren't entirely sure who or what we're up against... And worse, Irance has been attacked. They've sent Iris to save it, but I'm afraid that she'll- That she may not come back... Not saying that I don't believe she can do it, because I do. But... I don't want to lose her, like I lost you..."

A tear fell onto the grass, followed by several more.

"I miss you, Leaf... I know I've told you this so many times before but, I wish we could've spent more time together. I wish we met under different circumstances... I wish we lived in a world which didn't revolve around war and hatred."

"...I wish that you were still with me. Your perverted jokes and clingy personality are something I never thought I'd miss so much but--" She hiccuped "I do. I miss you that much. And, I'm not sure how long I can keep going."

She leaned forward and rested her forehead against the stone, only to feel something different about it. It felt as if something was holding her from behind, but it didn't have a human feel to it. It seemed otherworldly. Supernatural...

"L-Leaf?" She called out, looking over her shoulder. No one was there, but the feeling lingered.

And then, she heard it.

It wasn't a voice, necessarily. It was something she couldn't describe, but... It felt like something was telling her to carry on. It felt like him telling her to carry on...

Was this Leaf's way of telling her he kept his promise. That he was still watching over her?

'Come on, Hunter. You're a fighter, and fighters don't quit.'

Her eyes widened...

...

Well, you can't really argue with the dead, can you?

She smiled slightly, suddenly feeling a strong sense of hope as she stood. The feeling around her frame melted away as she stared down at her boyfriend's grave with a flame in her eyes. With a small nod she turned on her heel, and headed for the gate once again.

"I will. Thank you..."

---

"God damnit!" Scarlet screamed, not being able to get close to her sister as she continued to rage on. Black shadowy tentacles swished about, blocking guards' paths while the owner remained in what seemed to be a slumber.

Astrid, who stood next to the younger guard let out a sigh "We might have to bring out the canons if she resists any further."

"No!" Scarlet gasped "That might kill her!"

"Well the rest of Irance might not survive if we keep trying to get close to her." The woman gave her a stern look "They might turn out like Scott. Or worse."

The girl glanced over at the said boy, who was still trying to stand from when 'Erika' attacked him. His arm was concealed with some sort of black sludge, which seemed incredibly painful as he was whimpering and his skin was drenched in sweat. Her eyebrows pulled downwards.

She'd never admit it, but she was actually worried for him.

"There has to be another way... I can't lose her."

"Look out!"

She gasped and turned her head, only to see a tentacle hauling itself at her. Instinctively she brought her arms up as a poor excuse for a shield. Was she gonna die... by the hands of her own sister?

"Hold on!"

All of a sudden she was enveloped with warmth, which tucked her into what seemed to be someone's chest. She heard a swipe, then a slice as if a sword just cut through something.

And then, the sound of heavy breathing, which she felt against the top of her head.

She slowly opened her eyes, looking up to meet stern ebony ones. A dirty blonde haired boy, a few years older than her was holding her in his protective embrace, using one arm to keep her close to him while the other held a long silver sword.

"You alright?" He asked, slightly out of breath. It was obvious he rushed over as quickly as possible to save her. She nodded still slightly shaken, and he let go "Good. Don't get distracted like that next time, there won't always be someone around to save your ass."

Wow. He sure changed his attitude quickly...

"Drew!" They heard someone from behind them call. Scarlet turned her head to see three more people. Two of them were boys with similar appearances to the one that saved her, and the other was a girl that she recognised.

"Iris?!"

"Hey." The orange haired girl greeted casually, stopping to stand next to the younger female and glare up at the beast. In the meantime one boy went to fight the tentacles with 'Drew' while the other crouched down next to Scott "So that's her, huh?"

Scarlet tilted her head.

"Drew told me what happened. Your sister is being used as a host for a spirit of darkness."

"Okay, first of all, who is 'Drew'. And second of all, WHAT?!"

Iris blinked before sighing deeply and gesturing towards the boys "Your rude saviour's Drew. The one with tentacles growing out of his back's Ross."

Ross turned around breifly to wave at Scarlet, before slapping away the shadows with his own. Scarlet didn't quite know what to think with that one.

"Wha--"

"And the one treating Scott is Hugo." Iris finished, nodding over to the male with freckled cheeks before turning back to Scarlet "As for the spirit thing, that's what I'm here. We can defeat that thing without killing your sister."

The brunette seemed to lighten up for a moment, but instantly frowned when acknowledging the emphasis of 'kill' "Will it hurt her?"

The female's expression grew darker "Unfortunately so... the process will be an extremely painful process for her. Since I have Ross with me it won't take as long, but it won't be too pretty. Especially if she's a screamer."

Crap. Erika IS a screamer.

"Is there any other way?"

"No." Iris shook her head sadly "It's either this, or death."

Death

Death

Death

That word alone made the poor girl's heart stop.

"Do it."

The sudden demand made both of them whip their heads around, their eyes landing on Scott who was leaning on Hugo to help himself stand. His grey eyes didn't falter as he gave Iris a pleading look, which was an expression something Scarlet had never seen on the wolf before. He seemed... human for once.

'Shifters are people too, you know.'

Maybe... Just maybe she should take Vincent's words into consideration--

She dodged as another shadow came crashing down, which instantly got slapped away by Ross. He had been keeping them at bay the whole time...

"Sorry!" He yelled "Missed that one!"

Iris facepalmed before turning to Scott "You understand the pain Erika will endure, right?"

"I don't care right now, as long as she lives." His voice cracked, his ears drooping further as he appeared more and more desperate. "Do what you have to, just please save her."

(When you try your best to write with writers block... I'm sorry if this isn't as good quality as some of the other stuff I've written)